


I'll Be There

by KitKatWinchester



Series: Comfortember 2020 [3]
Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Bisexual Mike Wheeler, Comfort, Gay Will Byers, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Mike Wheeler Loves Will Byers, Minor Will Byers/Mike Wheeler, Protective Mike Wheeler, Will Byers & Mike Wheeler Friendship, Will Byers Loves Mike Wheeler, Will Byers Needs a Hug, Will Byers/Mike Wheeler Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-09
Updated: 2020-11-09
Packaged: 2021-03-09 11:00:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 934
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27469921
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KitKatWinchester/pseuds/KitKatWinchester
Summary: It's been months since the team took on The Mind Flayer, but Will is still struggling to cope with everything he went through.Luckily, Mike isn't going to let him go through it alone."Crazy together."
Relationships: Will Byers & Mike Wheeler, Will Byers/Mike Wheeler
Series: Comfortember 2020 [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1997209
Comments: 4
Kudos: 29
Collections: Comfortember 2020





	I'll Be There

**Author's Note:**

> Hey all! 
> 
> Me? Posting Day 6 of Comfortember on November 8th? 
> 
> Oh don't act so shocked. You know I'm bad at this kind of thing. XD 
> 
> But, like I said, this is for Day 6 of Comfortember: Afraid to Sleep. 
> 
> When I wrote this, I wrote it as Byler, but honestly, I think it could be read as friendship or a couple, so it is totally up to you and your interpretation. 
> 
> That said, I'll also be posting Days 7 and 8 today, as well as the _actual _Day 9 later today (most of which will be Supernatural, btw). But! I hope you like this story for the moment!__
> 
> __With all of that out of the way, please read on!_ _
> 
> __P.S. For clarification purposes, the story takes place shortly after Season 2._ _

It shouldn’t be this hard. 

He knows he’s fine. He knows the Mind Flayer’s gone. He knows that they have nothing else to worry about--their town is safe again. 

So why can’t he shake this... _ feeling _ ? 

He turns onto his side, wrapping his blankets tighter around himself. He squeezes his eyes shut, taking deep breaths, willing himself to fall asleep.

Just as his breaths start evening out on their own, the Mind Flayer flashes behind his eyelids, and he jolts up into a seated position, practically falling out of bed in the process. Once he has his breathing under some semblance of control again, he sighs, falling back on his bed and staring at the ceiling.  _ How long is this gonna go on?  _

He jolts up in bed again as he hears a crackling noise beside him, but his muscles relax at the voice that follows. 

“Will, do you copy?” He reaches for his walkie-talkie quickly, pulling out the antenna all the way to strengthen the signal. 

“I copy, Mike,” he replies, and he can’t help the relief that flows through him at just being able to talk to him.  _ Mike’s always made everything better.  _

“How’d you know I’d be awake?” Will finishes. 

“Lucky guess,” Mike responds, a hint of a smile in his voice before it softens at his next words. “Is it...is it your visions again?” 

Will turns away from the walkie and stares at his wall for a minute. Eventually, he nods before remembering that Mike can’t actually see him. 

“Yeah,” he admits, tucking his knees up to his chin and wrapping his blanket a little tighter as he grips the walkie in his left hand. “Just, uh...you know. The usual stuff.” There are several beats of silence, and for a second, Will wonders if Mike fell asleep, but then he answers. 

“You know you’re safe, right?” his voice is barely above a whisper, but Will can hear it loud and clear. “El destroyed it. It’s not coming back. And...no one’s gonna let anything happen to you. Not again.” His voice softens even more, just enough that Will almost doesn’t catch the next part. “Especially not me.” 

For the first time that night, Will smiles, and it releases something in him, just a little bit. 

“I know,” he responds. “And, I mean, most of the time, I’m okay. It’s just...at night, I guess. When I’m alone.” 

“Then I’ll come over--”

“No!” Will says quickly, cutting off the shuffling that had been in the background--presumably from Mike climbing out of bed. “Sorry,” he continues, attempting to explain himself. “I just, uh..out there. It’s uh...I don’t...with you--” 

“I get it,” Mike says, stopping the nervous rambling. “I’ll just...be right here then, on the walkie. You can...talk to me here. Like this.” Will sighs a little in relief, gripping the walkie a little bit tighter. 

“Okay,” he whispers back, and after a few seconds, Mike speaks up again. 

“Do you wanna talk, or do you want me to?” Will stares at the wall for a minute, as if it will give him all the answers, but when it--shockingly--doesn’t, he eventually mumbles out his own response. 

“Umm...I don’t...I mean...maybe...if you could?” he asks, and he can imagine Mike nodding a little, and to his happy relief, he launches into a story. 

“Wanna hear what happened with me and Nancy today?” Mike doesn’t wait for the go ahead--he just launches into the story. 

“See, it’s kind of funny, because, ya know, after everything we’ve been through, you’d think we wouldn’t fight over silly little things anymore, but I guess it's kind of part of who we are. So, anyways…” 

Will smiles happily at hearing Mike’s voice, and as Mike launches into the story, his whole body slowly loses its tension. He takes the opportunity to lie back down in bed, readjusting his blankets as he lays the walkie-talkie down next to him. When Mike explains how his sister got covered in the soup their mom made for dinner, Will even lets out a laugh, which makes Mike laugh right along with him. 

In what feels like forever, Will actually feels...okay. 

As Mike continues telling his story, Will lets his voice fade into the background as he slowly drifts off into a peaceful sleep. 

~ 

Mike waits until he’s sure Will is asleep before he finally stops talking. Once he stops, he listens for several seconds, and when all he hears is Will’s quiet breathing, he sighs a little in relief, lowering the walkie-talkie and moving it over to his nightstand. 

This isn’t the first time, and Mike has a feeling it won’t be the last. But he doesn’t care. In fact, Mike would have given anything to have been right there with him, lying beside him, rubbing his back, telling a story--anything Will needed. 

But he also knows that Will doesn’t want any of them in any more danger than they need to be, and sneaking out in the middle of the night--good intentions or otherwise--would only worry him more. And Mike definitely doesn’t want that. 

So for now, nights like this will have to do. And if that means staying up all night to make sure his favorite person’s asleep before Mike goes to sleep himself, then that’s how it’ll be. 

Because even though Will doesn’t always need him, when he does, Mike intends to be there. And he knows that, deep down, Will knows that. 

And in the end, that’s all that matters. 

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you liked this (albeit short) story! 
> 
> This was my first time actually writing and publishing something for Stranger Things _and _for Byler specifically, so I hope you liked it, and I hope it worked!__
> 
> __Any feedback is much appreciated! Otherwise, feel free to check out my other works, and if you wanna get to know me, come say hi on[Tumblr!](https://kitkatwinchester.tumblr.com/)_ _
> 
> __Thank you all for reading! <3_ _


End file.
